Regular salted and unsalted butter

The “normal” stuff, as far as we’re concerned in the States. Great on waffles, pancakes, and toast, salted butter is a versatile finishing butter you most likely know, love and have in your fridge right now. Commercial butter in the U.S. has to contain at least 80 percent butter fat and is considered “sweet cream” butter, meaning it’s made from fresh pasteurized milk versus cultured or fermented milk (more on that later).

Unsalted is the same thing, but no salt. If you’re doing some baking or making a pan sauce, you’ll want to use unsalted butter to make sure your end product isn’t overly salty; it’s hard to control how much salt is in the butter, so using unsalted butter ensures that you can properly control the salt in your dish. Unsalted butter on toast or waffles is bland, though, so if this is all you have for those, make sure you sprinkle a bit of salt on there.

Grass-fed butter

Normal butter, but the milk or cream is from grass-fed cows. This gives it a yellower hue and a more vibrant, grassy flavor. Also, word on the street is that grass-fed butter is waaay healthier than regular butter, possibly on par with olive oil in terms of fatty acids and omega.

Cultured butter

When people originally started making butter, they collected cream that they skimmed off their fresh milk over a few days before they had enough to churn into butter, and that time allowed the cream to start to ferment; that’s cultured butter. Most cultured butter today is made from added bacteria instead of natural fermentation, but the end result is basically the same, with additional aroma compounds from the fermentation and a more “buttery” taste according to many. You can treat cultured butter just like regular butter in terms of use and cooking (again, there are salted and unsalted varieties), but it can definitely add an extra tang to your dish, so make sure that’s what you want.

European butter

In the U.S., this is often what cultured butter is labeled as, and if you go to Europe you’re likely to find cultured butter. There are a lot of variations of “European butter” though, so check the ingredients to get an idea of what’s going on. A few European butters have special legal geographical designations (like Champagne or Bordeaux), like Beurre d’Isigny from France and Beurre d’Ardenne from Belgium. Since most European butter is cultured, make sure you take that tanginess into account when you cook with it.

Clarified butter (ghee)

Clarified butter (also known as ghee) is made from rendering butter; the water evaporates, and the milk solids float to the surface and are skimmed off, leaving just the butter fat. Clarified butter has a higher smoke point than regular butter because of the lack of easily burnable milk solids (485° F vs. 325-375° F), so you can use it for higher-heat applications, like frying things. Commonly used in Pakistani/Indian and Southeast Asian cuisines, clarified butter stays fresh longer than regular butter since it has less water (and water encourages spoilage). This is what you’re usually going to have with something like lobster, because

Seafood + dairy = meh

but seafood + pure fat = YUM.

Clotted cream

Similar to butter, but made in an entirely different fashion, with milk or cream indirectly heated and then left to cool in shallow pans, where clumps or “clots” of cream rise to the top and are separated. It’s an essential part of cream tea in England (a break for tea and scones with jam and clotted cream). In the U.S., its high fat content means this dairy treat is technically a butter.

Homemade butter

Quite possibly the best butter you’ve ever had. Get some high-quality cream (grass-fed if you can find it), throw it in a food processor or blender or stand mixer, turn on and let run about seven minutes, and BOOM: You have butter. Just pour off the liquid and season with salt to taste. It’s a spreadable, delectable treat that will seriously take your toast to new heights you didn’t even know existed. You can cook with this if you want, but it has such a luscious mouthfeel that it just really wants to be spread on something and eaten straight-up.

GOAT AND SHEEP BUTTER

Butter made from goat’s or sheep’s milk! It’s thought that the first butters ever made were made from either goat or sheep, since they were both domesticated about 1,000 years before cows. Just make sure you taste these first before you dive right in, as they’re not going to taste like the butter you’re used to. They’ll have a certain farm-y note like you’d taste in goat or sheep cheese.

Additional evidence of butter’s greatness

Roux
Flour and butter, mixed and cooked together. The base for the four original French “mother sauces,” (bechamel, veloute, tomate, espagnol) roux is the perfect thing to thicken any liquid you’re dealing with, from sauce to broth.

Brown Butter
Put butter in a hot pan and brown it with some herbs. You just made sauce. Yup. That’s seriously it. Try it with sage and serve it on top of some cheese-filled ravioli or tortellini.

Natural Emulsifier
Butter itself is technically an emulsification, and that’s part of what makes it such a great emulsifying agent. If you’re making a pan sauce, a little butter goes a long way toward binding your sauce into one silky-smooth consistency.

Compound Butter

You can mix anything into butter and create a completely new thing. Put minced garlic into butter and spread onto bread for the best garlic toast ever. Or blend some rosemary, basil, thyme, and oregano into butter and put on top of a steak for one of the more deliciously simple takes on a tried-and-true favorite.

Nutritional Facts and Health Effects

Butter is a popular dairy product made from cow's milk.

Composed of milk fat that has been separated from other milk components, it has a rich flavor and is widely used as a spread, as well as for cooking and baking.

In the past few decades, butter has been blamed for heart disease due to its high saturated fat content.

However, butter is now widely considered healthy — at least when used in moderation.

This article tells you everything you need to know about butter.

Production methods

The first step in butter production involves separating cream from the milk.

In the past, milk was simply left standing until the cream rose to the surface, at which point it was skimmed. Cream rises because fat is lighter than the other milk components.

Modern cream production involves a more efficient method called centrifugation.

Butter is then produced from cream via churning, which involves shaking the cream until the milk fat — or butter — clumps together and separates from the liquid portion — or buttermilk.

After the buttermilk is drained off, the butter is churned further until it becomes ready for packaging.

Butter is produced by separating cream from the milk, then churning the cream to drain off the extra liquid.

Nutrition facts

As it’s mainly composed of fat, butter is a high-calorie food. One tablespoon (14 grams) of butter packs about 100 calories, which is similar to 1 medium-sized banana.

The nutrition facts for 1 tablespoons (14 grams) of salted butter are

Calories: 102

Water: 16%

Protein: 0.12 grams

Carbs: 0.01 grams

Sugar: 0.01 grams

Fiber: 0 grams

Fat: 11.52 grams

Saturated: 7.29 grams

Monounsaturated: 2.99 grams

Polyunsaturated: 0.43 grams

Trans: 0.47 grams

Butter contains significant amounts of calories and fat, packing over 100 calories and 11 grams of fat into 1 tablespoon (14 grams).

Fats in butter

Butter is about 80% fat, and the rest is mostly water.

It’s basically the fatty portion of milk that has been isolated from the protein and carbs.

Butter is one of the most complex of all dietary fats, containing more than 400 different fatty acids.

It is very high in saturated fatty acids (about 70%) and holds a fair amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (about 25%).

Polyunsaturated fats are only present in minimal amounts, consisting of about 2.3% of the total fat content

Other types of fatty substances found in butter include cholesterol and phospholipids.

Short-chain fats

Around 11% of the saturated fats in butter are short-chain fatty acids , the most common of which is butyric acid

Butyric acid is a unique component of the milk fat of ruminant animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats.

Butyrate, which is a form of butyric acid, has been shown to reduce inflammation in the digestive system and has been used as a treatment for Crohn's disease

Unlike trans fats in processed foods, dairy trans fats are considered healthy.

Butter is the richest dietary source of dairy  trans fats, the most common of which are vaccenic acid and conjugated linoleic acid

CLA is associated with various health benefits

Test-tube and animal studies indicate that CLA may protect against certain types of cancer

CLA is also sold as a weight loss supplement

However, not all studies support its weight loss effects, and it’s possible that large doses of CLA supplements may harm metabolic health

Butter is mainly composed of fat, such as saturated, monounsaturated, and dairy trans fats.

Vitamins and minerals

Butter is a rich source of several vitamins — especially fat-soluble ones.

The following vitamins are found in high amounts in butter:

Vitamin A. It’s the most abundant vitamin in butter. One tablespoon (14 grams) provides about 11% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)

Vitamin D. Butter is a good source of vitamin D.

Vitamin E. A powerful antioxidant, vitamin E is often found in fatty foods.

Vitamin B12. Also called cobalamin, vitamin B12 is only found in foods of animal or bacterial origin, such as eggs, meat, dairy products, and fermented food.

Vitamin K2. A form of vitamin K, this vitamin — also called menaquinone — may protect against heart disease and osteoporosis

However, butter doesn't contribute much to your total daily intake of these vitamins because you usually consume it in small amounts.

Butter is rich in various vitamins, including A, D, E, B12, and K2.

Health concerns

If eaten in conventional amounts, butter has few known adverse health effects.

However, eating butter in large amounts may very well lead to weight gain and associated health problems, especially in the context of a high-calorie diet.

A few downsides are outlined below.

Milk allergy

Although butter is very low in protein, it still contains enough allergenic whey proteins to cause reactions.

Therefore, people with a milk allergy should be careful with butter — or avoid it altogether.

Lactose intolerance

Butter contains only trace amounts of lactose, so moderate consumption should be safe for most people with lactose intolerance.

Cultured butter (made from fermented milk) and clarified butter — also called ghee — provide even less lactose and may be more suitable.

Heart health

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in modern society.

The relationship between saturated fats and heart disease has been a controversial topic for several decades

A high intake of saturated fat can increase levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in your blood, which is a risk factor for heart disease

However, critics point out that saturated fat doesn’t raise the type of LDL most strongly associated with heart disease — small, dense LDL (sdLDL) particles

Additionally, many studies have failed to find a link between saturated fat intake and heart disease

The same applies to high-fat dairy products like butter. Some studies indicate that high-fat dairy products do not increase your risk of heart disease

Notably, other observational studies link intake of high-fat dairy products to benefits for heart health 

Despite these controversies, most official dietary guidelines still advise against eating high amounts of saturated fat.

Butter is generally healthy — and low in lactose — but may contribute to weight gain when eaten in excess. While it has been blamed for raising heart disease risk, some studies indicate it could benefit heart health.

Grass-fed vs. grain-fed

The feed of dairy cows can have a considerable effect on the nutritional quality of butter.

Grass-fed butter is made from the milk of cows that graze on pasture or are fed fresh grass.

In the United States, grass-fed dairy products comprise a tiny portion of the dairy sector. Most dairy cows are fed with commercial grain-based feeds

In many other countries, such as Ireland and New Zealand, grass-fed milk products are much more common — at least during the summer months.

Grass-fed butter is higher in many nutrients than butter from cows fed processed, grain-based feeds or conserved grass

A higher proportion of fresh grass in a cow's diet increases the amount of healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids and CLA

In addition, the content of fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants — such as carotenoids and tocopherols — is significantly higher in grass-fed dairy

As a result, butter from grass-fed cows may be a much healthier choice.

SUMMARYButter from grass-fed cows is higher in many nutrients than butter from grain-fed cows and may be a healthier option.

The bottom line

Butter is a dairy product produced from milk fat.

While mainly composed of fat, it’s also rich in many vitamins, especially A, E, D, and K2.

However, butter is not particularly nutritious when considering its large number of calories.

Due to its high saturated fat content, it has been blamed for increased risk for weight gain and heart disease. Yet, several studies point to the contrary.

At the end of the day, butter is healthy in moderation — but excessive consumption should be avoided.

Difference between Butter and Margarine

What Is Butter?

Butter is the dairy product made from churning milk or cream. The churning process separates the butterfat (the solids) from the buttermilk (the liquid). The butter we most often buy is made from cow’s milk, although other varieties — made from the milk of sheep, goat, yak, or buffalo — are also available. While typically pale yellow in color, butter can range from white to deep yellow, depending on the animal’s diet. And since, at its core, butter is made from one ingredient, it can be made at home.

You may have noticed your butter labeled as “sweet cream butter.” This indicates that the cream used to make the butter was pasteurized, or first heated to kill any pathogens and prevent spoilage.

Whipped butter, designed to be more spreadable, adds air into the butter, making it lighter and less dense. So an equal-sized portion of whipped butter, as compared to regular butter, has fewer calories and a lower fat content.

The biggest factor that sets different brands of butter apart is the fat content, which ultimately has an effect on the butter’s taste and texture. All commercially sold butter in the U.S. must be at least 80 percent fat. As butter is an animal fat, it contains cholesterol and is higher in saturated fat than margarine.

What Is Margarine?

Margarine is a non-dairy product created as a substitute for butter. While originally made from animal fat in the 1800s, today the primary ingredients include vegetable oil, water, salt, emulsifiers, and some also include milk. Margarine can be found in both sticks and tubs.

It’s important to know that not all margarine is created equal. There are variations from brand to brand, so it’s important to read the label. Unlike butter, margarine isn’t something that can be made at home.

Like butter, regular margarine must also have a minimum fat content of 80 percent by law. Anything less is considered a “spread.” The margarine and spreads found in the dairy aisle can range from 10 to 90 percent fat. Depending on the fat content, the levels of vegetable oil and water will vary, with those containing a lower fat content having a higher percentage of water.

Since margarine’s primary component is vegetable oil, it lacks the cholesterol and saturated fat found in butter, and has a higher percentage of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. It may, however, contain trans fat — although, many brands have reduced or totally eliminated this from the ingredient lineup, using palm oil and palm kernel oil in its place.

Which Is Better

If you’ve tasted each of these spreads, then you know just how vastly different they are. Growing up in the early ’80s, we were a margarine household for quite a long time. Thankfully at some point we made the switch to butter. Once I tasted really good butter, it was like a light came on and I knew this was the stuff I needed to be eating. Good-quality butter tastes amazing — there’s just no way around it.

The type of fat found in butter and margarine is a defining factor in what sets them apart. While butter is derived from animal fat, margarine is made with vegetable oil. This difference has an impact on taste, texture, and nutrition.

As far as substituting one for the other, it’s best to go by the recipe, especially when it comes to baking. Those margarines that have a lower fat content contain more water, which can lead to tougher baked goods.

As far as which one is better, your best bet is to just use whichever one you choose in moderation.